I do think I am generally on the same lines with ya on most footballing points, though I shall give you credit being rather sportsman about Wigan in view of having a firm affiliation with ManC. What I wished to say as such is that it is rather nice to see a firm stand behind FA Cup's importance.

Am I the only one thinking CL matches are often clinical and not that interesting and too "television rights" driven?

I would rather like to see a knock-out competition between all relevant National Champions and Cup Winners, with a European Super Final between the winners of these two than what we have now.

Okei, the two domestic cups do account for something in terms of England being a vigorous football nation, most other nations probably only have one - but in terms of finances England is also ahead of majority of European nations, getting back to ... having relatively superb second sides / reserve teams.

My perception is meanwhile that English Premier League (EPL) has only opened up and become superbly interesting now that in their turn ManU "has been knocked off their f-ing perch (in lieu of Liverpool)" to quote Alex Ferguson himself.

Previously EPL was not too unlike Bundesliga with Bayern München.

What really bothers me most grievously with single / two / limited few teams sustained domination is that it tends to allow dominant teams to buy off promising or good players just to put them onto bench so that competing teams cannot field them.

This is rather sad as it makes the game universally poorer, not more beautiful.

I certainly agree with your last point. Bayern Munich will probably win the Bundesliga every season for the next five years at least, which is SO boring for everyone except Bayern fans. I partly blame the mentality of players though : why does every excellent player have to sign for Barca, Real or Bayern, as if this is the only choice they can make ? Can't they be a bit more imaginative themselves ? The way people think in this world where money and instant "fame" seem to be all that counts sickens me. Where is the romance in people's souls ?

I don't think that the EPL has ever been quite as much of a procession as the Bundesliga has been this season, though it was heading in that direction until fairly recently. In England Manchester United rose to dominance in the early 90s and have ruled English football since then - until now. People (apart from United fans) have grown sick of this and now it looks to have changed, with City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Everton and Tottenham also in contention. United will get back into contention soon, I've no doubt about that, but the next decade will not be all about United winning everything. This makes the English league the greatest spectacle, even if it doesn't possess the very best teams. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and perhaps PSG are all stronger than any English team but the leagues they play in are less competitive and therefore more boring.

The two domestic cups in England - and especially the FA Cup - have always mattered to English fans. One of the most exciting days of the season has always been the FA Cup 3rd round draw. But because there is now so much focus on the Champions League the FA Cup has been devalued and has become something of a "sideshow" these days : it is now considered (by clubs and money men at least) more important to finish 4th in the EPL than it is to win the FA Cup - a competition steeped in history and tradition. For this reason I dislike the Champions League : because the excessive focus on finishing in the top 4 (to qualify for the supposed "Holy Grail" of football competitions : the "Champions League") has to a certain extent lessened the importance of the FA Cup. The upshot of this is that managers such as Arsene Wenger have been content with finishing in the top 4 every year while not winning any trophies for nearly a decade.This may make financial sense but for the football fan it isn't about celebrating your team's financial performance, it's about celebrating moments of glory. If it was all about celebrating financial performance we might as well just support any company, e.g. Tesco ! Football is not just a business it is also entertainment. I do not HAVE to follow a football team and if they show no ambition they can expect their fans to complain and, eventually, walk away. I think some people in football (strangely) fail to understand this.

Yes, you are right that there are some very boring Champions League games, especially in the group stages. I just don't like this competition much at all, tbh, though I think I am probably pissing in the wind ! The really boring games are the "dead rubbers" which every tournament involving group stages is bound to witness. But I am frankly bored even with the knockout stages too. It is all just too predictable. The semi-finalists look like being : Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, PSG and Barcelona / Atletico Madrid. Even if Chelsea, Man.Utd and Atletico get through (which is unlikely) it will still bore the pants off me. There are some great clubs in Europe and I would like to see some new names in contention because all the clubs I've just mentioned bore me into oblivion.

Edit : Actually, if Atletico Madrid were to win the CL that would be pretty groovy. As a Manchester CITY fan who has had endure United winning everything for decades I think I have some idea of what it would mean to the Atletico fans to win either the Primera Liga or the Champions League this season (or both ?) So my non-English team for the rest of the season is Atletico. When fans have been starved of success for a long time they are so much more grateful for it when it finally arrives. United, Barca, Real and Bayern fans won't understand this. And if City can't win the title I hope Liverpool do it, because they have been mocked by United fans for two decades too and Liverpool were the best team in the Europe when I first got into football in the late 70s and they made me proud to be English.

Atletico - Courtois, my Belgian fancying, what is there to not like about it? ;-)

I would also say: what happens in Bundesliga now is what happened in EPL from '92-'93 onwards until up about now.

But I must now admit that with PSG fans whistling most of their way through their 3-1 triumph was a little disturbing to me; as also actually was the gathering of FC Basel fans outside of the stadium for the Europa Liga match that FCB had to play to an empty stadium due to ungracious conduct in the previous away game. Was this to condone, or to disown?

As such, as far as fans go - what is there not to love about Sheffield Wednesday - loyal through highs and even more consistently so through lows? Compared with ManU where one seems to enjoy to butcher the "chosen one" after but a one mediocre season...

I happen to live in Sheffield and my best friend happens to be a Wednesday fan. When City won the title two seasons ago by winning their last six matches and pipping their deadly rivals United to the title, Wednesday also finished like a train to pip their own deadly rivals - Sheffield United - to the second automatic promotion spot. Cue pitch invasions from both Wednesday and City fans. That was my favourite season ever, for multiple reasons. The difficulty for Wednesday is that they have no money and rely on loanees every season. In terms of support I would place them in the top 10 in English football. Their fans have a fantastic sense of humour too.

Basel beat Valencia 3-0 : quite a result ! Good luck to them. It would be fantastic to see a Swiss team win the Europa League. Juventus are probably the favourites, though, along with Benfica, but Basel are certainly "dark horses". Mohamed Salah is starting for Chelsea today vs.Stoke. He was a big influence in Basel's excellent performances against Chelsea in the CL group stages - and then he signs for Chelsea ! I have to admit, even though City are pretty much the same in terms of finances, I think there is something wrong with the fact that unless a clubs has megabucks it is bound to lose its best players to richer clubs. It's not right and in principle I'm against it, but as a City fan that puts me in a rather difficult position. Good to luck Basel : I hope they win it. I didn't know that the Basel fans had been banned from attending the Valencia game.

I agree to a certain extent about football in England from 92-93 onwards. That's why nearly every non-Man.Utd fan is happier now that other teams can also win the title. That was truly a Golden Era for Manchester United but it was a very BORING era because it was all about just one team. United fans won't agree, of course :) They will be closer to the top next season but I don't think they'll win it. English football is in rude health at the moment, despite the fact that our teams are not the very best in Europe. Every week in the Premier League is a spectacle. There are very few weeks about which you can say, "that was dull".

Courtois looks better than Cech to me : Atletico have the best defensive record in the Primera Liga. I've no idea what his future is but I predict that he will stay at Chelsea.

How comes the ManC fancying then, if you live in Sheffield - not born there? Well, Arsenal is de facto out now for EPL, so I must admit that Liverpool shall be my best fancied side now - for Gerrard - but ManC shall be fine too.

As to FCB-Valencia - I think Basel should possibly play more often without audience as this was the most entertaining match from them in Europa Liga for ages, to my mind! :-D

As to Champion's League, I shall be rather pleased if Atletico wins. PSG lost through tactical stupidity of defending 1-0 away - when 3-1 at home was a rather flattering result.

I am no fan of Laurent Blanc so, hey-ho! Though I fear Belgium, my favorite side for the WC, will get something of this kind for managerial ability...

Courtois - better looking in all accounts by me, lol, I mean - Cech's head-peace does not do him any favors, plus I have been quite encouraged for Brazil by his performances for Atletico!

I was actually born in Ipswich (East Anglia) but moved up to Sheffield when I was four years old. I still have an affection for Ipswich, though I can't remember much about my time there. My whole family comes from the north of England originally. My grandfather was a City supporter from Stockport, but I can't claim that that's why I chose City. I just liked the kit (all light blue with white Umbro trim back in those days) and i also liked (and was mystified by) the fact that City had a big support but always seemed to fail. I sensed that City was a success story just waiting to happen and that, when it did happen, the celebrations would be a bit special. I had to wait 30 years ! I wasn't into the idea of supporting one of the already-successful teams (namely Liverpool in the late 70s) because that would have been unexciting. I must admit to feeling a little bit guilty about not supporting one of the Sheffield teams, though I've been to see both teams numerous times and like them both. But you choose your team and you stick to it, so City it is for me !

Basel were unlucky to go out but you have to say well done to Valencia, and to Sevilla, too, for their comeback v.Porto. It really annoyed me when Chelsea signed Mohamed Salah from Basel. Clubs with all the money just cherry pick the players they want and there seems to be nothing the other teams can do about it, and it means that they can never build a great team because as soon as they do one of the richer clubs will just come along and steal their players. I realize that in saying this I am also criticizing City, but as a fan who had to wait 30 years to see them lift a single trophy it's hard not to be a bit of a hypocrite in this case.

I seriously dislike Mourinho, although I admire his intelligence and in particular his tactical acumen. But the guy is in my opinion bordering on being a psychopath ! That might sound a bit extreme but that is reportedly what many people thought about him in Spain. He is very casual and free and easy with his insults, is utterly hypocritical in his analyses of Chelsea games and is clearly a raging egotist ("The Special One" !) I think they should tape his mouth up very firmly before the start of the season and not remove the tape until the season is over. For some reason the British press seems to love him. PSG might have got through if Ibrahimovic had been playing. There is a pert of me, though, which was happy to see PSG go out because I had a sense that they were a bit cocky ... I've got nothing against Chelsea, I just don't like Mourinho.

ManC in your case - and some secondary Sheffield support - fair enough I suppose. I for example became firm supporter of Germany and firm disliker of Argentina since '90 WC final - the first and hence quite the formative time I watched the competition. More the German "machine" was slammed until the recent renaissance, the better I liked supporting them - at least the machine attacked! As with ESC, I suppose I am an incorrigible reverse snob of sorts! :-p

Basel, and as such, PSG too, to my mind deserved to go out because both teams were defending a result and left the initiative to the other team. Meanwhile, I watched the Basel game in "SUD" public viewing here, and there were some moments of commiserative laughter amongst us viewers as the game was just so... weird and poor. By the second red card I was strongly wishing for a penalty shoot out qualifier though...

At least a game with high emotion, to look at the positives. And you read my mind on Salah!! I have much missed the little fire-cracker of a game maker during the FC Basel European Campaign - and he has hardly been used by Chelsea at all, which is a waste of sorts to my mind.

And to my mind you are rather uncanny than extreme on Mourinho - right there with ya!

I do admit that I have a certain fancy on Arsène Wenger - I like his style of football - but it seems bit of a show of an agitprop attitude to rip him as a "failure" when he has succeeded an extremely rare feat of defeat-less national league season, which Bayer M just failed, for example.

Hence, I shall be pleased when Atletico will win CL (I hope!) and Liverpool (or possibly ManC) the ELC. :-D

The English (with a few Welsh) Premier League gets more intriguing every week. Huge win for Liverpool against City on Sunday but with Man City's 2 games in hand, we knew they'd bounce back. However, tonight Sunderland held them to a 2-2 draw and if anything Sunderland dropped 2 points. I'm sure they'll be more twists in the title race - no game is a given. Chelsea seem to be back to grinding out results after their hiccup. It's still wide open though and I want Liverpool to win it but Mourinho's experience may just give Chelsea an edge.

It's worth mentioning that all fans attending matches over the weekend were impeccable when remembering the 96 in '89. Let's hope justice is finally served.

Theoclymenus, good for ya, say I!

I might have preferred Liverpool, maybe - but at least I have the T-shirt proper, eh... :-p